Self-preserving policy engine and policy-based content transmission

Abstract

Systems and methods herein discuss a policy engine stored on a mobile device that intercepts content requests to a content provider. The policy engine is self-preserving, and may, subsequent to intercepting the content requests and based upon a determination that the requesting entity is associated with a whitelist; blocking, by the policy engine. The policy engine may in some cases transmit at least some of the requested content in response to a determination that the requesting application is associated with a blacklist or may transmit an HTTP200 response to the requesting entity based on a determination that the requesting application anticipates a response.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of selectively transmitting content, comprising:
 intercepting, by a policy engine stored in a non-transitory memory of a user equipment (UE), a request for content from an application stored in the non-transitory memory of the UE; 
 determining, by the policy engine, at least one policy of a plurality of policies stored in the policy engine and associated with at least one of the request, the application, and the UE; 
 based on the policy and in response to a determination that the requesting application is associated with a blacklist, blocking, by the policy engine, transmission of at least some of the requested content and transmitting, by the policy engine, a placebo message to the requesting application based on a determination that the requesting application anticipates a response; 
 receiving, by a policy server, a plurality of signals from the policy engine; 
 comparing, by the policy server, the plurality of received signals to a plurality of expected signals; 
 sending, by the policy server, a fraud alert in response to the comparison; 
 transmitting, by the policy server, in response to the comparison, a file to the UE, wherein the file comprises an auto-installation routine and an executable associated with the policy engine, and wherein the UE reinstalls the policy engine via the file; and 
 receiving, by the policy server, from the updated and installed policy engine, a second plurality of signals subsequent to reinstallation of the policy engine. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the policy engine, the policy associated with the request based on a network state of the UE. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising blocking, by the policy engine, transmission of at least some of the requested content based on a remaining data amount of a user account associated with the UE. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the policy engine, from a policy server, a plurality of updates to the policy engine, wherein the plurality of updates are received at periodic intervals. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , further comprising updating, by the policy server, at least one policy based on the plurality of updates and transmitting the at least one updated policy to a plurality of UEs that comprise policy engines. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the blacklist is stored in the policy engine. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the policy engine, from a policy server located remotely from the UE, an update to the policy engine comprising at least one of a new policy or a revised policy. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending, by the policy engine, a request to a policy server for an update to the policy engine in response to a triggering event comprising installation of a previously uninstalled application or an update to an installed application or in response to a determination that the policy engine does not comprise a policy associated with the requesting application. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the policy associated with the requesting application is based on at least one of a developer of the requesting application and an account associated with the UE. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the account associated with the UE comprises a predetermined amount of data services allotted over a period of time, and wherein a request for second content from a second application stored in the non-transitory memory of the UE is denied by the policy engine based on a determination that this predetermined amount of data services has been exceeded or will be exceeded by the transmission of the requested second content. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of signals are received based on a predetermined schedule from the policy engine or in response to a triggering event that comprises installation of a previously uninstalled application, an update to an installed application, a determination that an application stored on the UE is requesting access to other applications, or a determination that an application stored on the UE is transmitting data above a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, by the policy server, to a fraud server, the plurality of signals received from the policy engine. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising executing, by the policy server, a hash function on at least some of the plurality of received signals. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising sending, by the policy server, to the fraud server, a fraud alert, based on a determination that the executed hash function did not produce an expected value. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 intercepting, by the policy engine, a second request for content from a second application stored in the non-transitory memory of the UE; 
 determining, by the policy engine, at least one policy of the plurality of policies stored in the policy engine and associated with at least one of the second request, the second application, and the UE; and 
 based on the policy, transmitting, by the policy engine, the request to a content provider based upon a determination that the second application is associated with a whitelist. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , further comprising transmitting, by the policy engine, at least a portion of content received from the content provider to the second application based upon a determination that the second application is associated with the whitelist. 
     
     
       17. A system for selectively transmitting information comprising:
 a user equipment (UE) comprising a non-transitory memory, a plurality of applications, a policy engine, and a processor configured to execute the plurality of applications and the policy engine, wherein the UE is in communication with a policy server via a network that stores a plurality of policies associated with selective content transmission, wherein the policy engine, when executed by a processor, is configured to:
 receive a request for first content from a first application of the plurality of applications stored on the UE; 
 determine at least a first policy stored in the policy engine associated with the first application; 
 based on the first policy and in response to a determination that the first application is associated with a blacklist, block at least some the requested first content and transmit an HTTP200 response to the first application based on a determination that the first application anticipates a response; 
 receive a request for second content from a second application of the plurality of applications stored on the UE; 
 determine, based on at least a second policy stored in the policy engine and associated with the second application, a response, wherein the determined response comprises at least one of:
 transmitting at least some of the requested second content, 
 blocking at least some of the requested second content; 
 sending a notification to the second application indicating that at least some of the requested second content is blocked; 
 transmitting an HTTP200 response to the second application; or 
 transmitting a notification to the policy server; and 
 
 
 the policy server configured to:
 receives a plurality of signals from the policy engine; 
 compares the plurality of received signals to a plurality of expected signals; 
 sends a fraud alert in response to the comparison; 
 transmits, in response to the comparison, a file to the UE, wherein the file comprises an auto-installation routine and an executable associated with the policy engine, and wherein the UE reinstalls the policy engine via the file; and 
 receives from the updated and installed policy engine, a second plurality of signals subsequent to reinstallation of the policy engine. 
 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the determined response comprises transmitting the notification to the policy server, and wherein the notification transmitted to the policy server is associated with one of blocked content, transmitted content, and requests received. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the determined response is further based on a network state of the UE.